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Where did our summer go? Seems like we are in the fall already! While I won’t complain about the mild weather, I remember that years ago it stayed hot through the first couple of weeks in September. We called it “Indian Summer, but it seems we don’t get that anymore.

I spent the weekend helping my young cousin Remy Anne move into her new student apartment in Boston. She will be taking courses at Northeastern University (my Alma Mater). Time passes very quickly these days. It seems like only yesterday when she arrived in Boston with her folks for the first time, ready to begin studying dance at Boston Ballet!

Now I get prime seats along with her parents to watch her perform on the stage, which is
Very cool!

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After one of her performances at the Boston Ballet, I noticed my cousin Remy had this long plastic cylinder under her arm. When I asked her what it was, she told me it was a “foam roller.”

I know what they are, in fact I have one myself, but her’s was hollow unlike my own. I hadn’t seen the newer ones so it kinda threw me off a bit. Anyway…seeing her reminded me that I needed to use mine more often. Foam rollers are cylinders made of hard plastic foam that you literately roll over to loosen tight muscles.

For those of you who cannot afford frequent massage therapy treatments, foam roller can be just the thing to keep you more flexible and supple. You can get them online and they are relatively cheap.

I would recommend them highly as one of the most cost effective therapies available to the average person. The link below is to the model that I bought, and one I found works really well for me.

Nothing special about this one, pretty plain, but as I say relatively inexpensive for the benefits you can get from it. You don’t have to purchase any particular model, just so long as it is hard foam.

There are newer designs with knobs and protrusions on the surface. I can’t say whether these are better, because I have never used them, but they might be worth a shot. The idea is to put pressure on the tender areas because those are where the adhesions in the muscle are.

Adhesions are the result of scar tissue from what we call “micro traumas.” These are little tears in the muscle that when they heal, they often adhere to what’s called the “fascia.” Fascia is the protective sleeve or sheath around your muscles.

The muscles need to move smoothly beneath the fascia, and if they don’t because if these adhesions, then you get pain and restriction of movement. The foam roller tends to break up this scar tissue and free the adhesions, thus making you more supple.

You just basically get on the floor with the muscle you want to work resting on the foam roller. You roll over the roller until you find a spot that really hurts when you roll over it. At that point you just keep rolling back and forth across that sore spot until the pain subsides. When the pain subsides, that would be an indication that the adhesion has been freed.

Please keep in mind that this is NOT a substitute for proper medical care! If you have acute (really sharp) pain in an area that does not go away, your safest bet is to see a doctor, such as an orthopedic practitioner. They can either confirm or rule out anything serious.

The foam roller is really for long term stiffness or tenderness in an area that is the result of accumulated micro trauma from sports or exercise that happens over time. As far as learning HOW to use the foam roller, go to Youtube and search on foam roller, or foam roller exercise and you can choose any one of a number of instructional video clips.

Use of a foam roller is one of THE BEST things you can do to feel more flexible, supple, and lose that constant tightness that you may be feeling as a result of age, exercise, or trauma!

For my money, Tori Amos is one of THE most electrifying performers in popular music. Her vocal performances are always captivating. I think for many people, including myself, her music is an acquired taste, but well worth trying.

Combine her darkly beautiful piano playing with the wonderful backing of the Metropole Orchestra of Amsterdam Holland and you have one truly magical performance as this Youtube video will attest!